KY poverty, immigration law group to pause operations due to federal grant uncertainty
One of Kentucky’s longest-operating poverty and advocacy law groups, which also has a immigration law clinic, will pause its operations starting Friday, Jan. 31, board and staff confirmed Thursday.
The Kentucky Equal Justice Center, which was founded in 1976, also oversees Lexington’s Maxwell Street Legal Clinic, which specializes in immigration law.
Bruce Simpson, a board member of the center, said confusion over what will happen to federal grant funding led the board to make the decision Tuesday to pause operations temporarily until there is clarity on whether the group will continue to receive federal funding.
President Donald Trump’s administration issued an order Monday pausing most federal funding but then appeared to reverse the order. Meanwhile, there are multiple lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s temporary halt to many federal grants.
“Our clients will continue to receive legal representation,” Simpson said.
The group has reached out to others in the legal community to take on some of the agency’s legal work while the nonprofit waits to hear how Trump’s orders concerning the future of federal grants plays out.
The Kentucky Equal Justice Center board is also moving quickly to raise additional private money to keep staff paid and the doors open, he said.
“We are not closing,” said Shay Hutchinson, executive director of the center.
Hutchinson said the 23-person staff has agreed to volunteer during the temporary pause to transition clients or to continue to work on cases.
The nonprofit relies on direct community support and grants and does not have large cash reserves to keep the agency open for a month when some of its main funding sources are in question, Hutchinson said.
Nonprofits have struggled to raise money due to Trump’s various executive orders in general, she said. It’s created fear among private donors.
“This is a larger crisis of legal aid organizations across the country,” Hutchinson said.
The organization needs at least $172,000 a month to continue its operations. Many donors have already stepped up to help but the center needs multiple months of support to continue operations. Hutchinson said they are also trying to contact all of their partner organizations to make them aware of the center’s current plans.
The center has no restrictions on what type of clients it can represent. Other organizations, including Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, often have some type of restrictions. The organization has represented tenants who have been evicted, crime victims, people with substance use disorders and others facing food insecurity.
If the center closes permanently, “hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians are going to be left without any advocate to represent them,” Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said they don’t know how long the center will be temporarily closed.
As the fate of many federal grants is in the air, Trump has ordered an increase in immigration enforcement efforts.
The Maxwell Street Legal Clinic was founded in 1999 by volunteers in response to the need for low-cost immigration legal help. In 2008, it became a program of the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, according to its website.
The pausing of the Maxwell Street Legal Clinic’s services right now will cause a significant gap in legal help for immigrants, staff said.
“Maxwell Street Legal Clinic has been helping Kentucky’s immigrant community since 1999. It started with two volunteer attorneys and grew into a full time operation. It has been a privilege to meet all the wonderful people who just want to join our community,”said Charles Bates, Maxwell Street’s program director, about the clinic’s work.
Kentucky Equal Justice, a nonprofit, has sued on behalf of low-income Kentuckians for decades and has launched legal and advocacy programs for people with substance use disorder, tenants and mobile home park residents. Its staff has lobbied Frankfort on various pieces of legislation affecting the poor for decades.
It is one of the oldest and most respected nonprofit immigration legal clinics in the state.
To donate to the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, email Hutchinson at shayhutchinson@kyequaljustice.org. Or go to its website at kyequaljustice.org and go to donate.
